Douglas Todd: Vancouver ranks fourth for foreign-born residents, but is it ‘cosmopolitan?’

Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun columnist07.22.2013

People participate in double dutch jump ropes during the Fusion Festival at Holland Park in Surrey on Sunday. More than 45 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents are foreign born, according to the 2011 census. There are only three major cities on the globe that have a higher percentage of foreign-born residents. They are Dubai, Brussels and Toronto.

If we define cosmopolitan as “including people of many different countries,” Metro Vancouver is the fourth most cosmopolitan major city on the planet.

More than 45 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents are foreign born, according to the 2011 census. There are only three major cities on the globe that have a higher percentage of foreign-born residents.

Of the 406 urban regions in the world with more than one million people, Metro Vancouver is a leader in the modern-day experiment in mass migration.

Indeed, in most of the big cities around the planet — such as Beijing, Manila, Seoul and Mumbai — the percentage of foreign-born residents is tiny: less than three per cent.

Before exploring whether Metro Vancouver is a truly cosmopolitan city in light of such demographics, let’s compare it to the three cities with the most foreign-born residents.

In Dubai, a port city in the United Arab Emirates fuelled by the oil and gas industry, the proportion of foreign-born residents is an astounding 80 per cent.

But the vast majority of recent arrivals to Dubai are temporary foreign workers (from India and Pakistan) who, unlike in Canada, will never be offered citizenship.

Indeed, the strong majority of foreigners in Dubai are men. Many earn low wages in construction and live in workers’ camps, some of which have been the subject of human-rights complaints.

The situation regarding the 62 per cent of foreign-born residents of Brussels, Belgium, also diverges from Metro Vancouver.

Brussels is the capital of the European Union. Roughly half its foreign-born residents are EU staff from other countries in Europe, particularly France. They are not seeking Belgian passports. Another contingent of Brussels’ foreign-born residents is from Turkey.

Toronto, not surprisingly, is the city most like Vancouver in terms of the incredible range of origins of its foreign-born — and most are immigrants who obtain a Canadian passport.

Forty-nine per cent of Metro Toronto residents were born outside the country. Like in Vancouver, the largest contingents come from China, India and the Philippines, plus scores of other nations.

The diversity differences between the two fast-growing Canadian cities are minor. Toronto, for instance, has more people from the Caribbean and the Middle East. Vancouver has a higher percentage from China and northern India.

So what do these foreign-born demographics say about whether Vancouver is cosmopolitan?

A second Oxford definition of cosmopolitan does more than simply rank proportions of foreign-born residents — it focuses on character.

The Oxford describes a person (or place) as cosmopolitan when it “is at ease in many different cultures” and “has an exciting character associated with travel and a mixture of cultures.”

Given this more expansive definition, Metro Vancouver is at least somewhat cosmopolitan.

But to me it’s a question of degrees.

I would name many other cities, some with much smaller proportions of foreign-born residents, that are probably more cosmopolitan than Vancouver.

I would argue residents of Paris, Tokyo, London, Berlin, New York, possibly Montreal and many other cities are more cosmopolitan and “at ease in many cultures” than most people in Vancouver.

I won’t be offended if anyone disagrees with this assessment, which is highly subjective.

But these famous cities, by and large, have developed characters that are more exciting — as in sophisticated, urbane and globally engaged — than has this West-Coast city.

Compared to Vancouver, cities such as Paris and Berlin are bigger, have a richer history and have done more culturally, educationally, philosophically and artistically to mix the cultures they do contain.

Indeed, Metro Vancouver has been criticized for having too many ethnic and language enclaves, where cultural groups tend to stick close to each other.

And the vast majority of foreign-born residents in Vancouver come from source countries that are relatively homogeneous.

The major cities of China, India and the Philippines are virtually empty of foreign-born residents, which would, by definition, render them quite non-cosmopolitan.

Although there are many exceptions, most foreign-born newcomers to Vancouver and Toronto come face to face with the challenge of developing “ease in many different cultures” only after they arrive in Canada.

All in all, I’d say there is a more precise word for Vancouver and Toronto than cosmopolitan.

It’s a technical term. Geographers use it to describe big cities in which more than 10 per cent of residents are foreign born, no one group dominates the immigrant stock and newcomers arrive from all regions of the world.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Douglas Todd: Vancouver ranks fourth for foreign-born residents, but is it ‘cosmopolitan?’

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.